Valdez expected to start as Houston hosts Oakland

Updated Jul. 6, 2021 3:20 a.m. ET

Associated Press

Oakland Athletics (49-37, second in the AL West) vs. Houston Astros (52-33, first in the AL West)

Houston; Tuesday, 8:10 p.m. EDT

PITCHING PROBABLES: Athletics: Chris Bassitt (9-2, 3.04 ERA, 1.02 WHIP, 109 strikeouts) Astros: Framber Valdez (5-1, 2.18 ERA, 1.04 WHIP, 41 strikeouts)

LINE: Astros -152, Athletics +133; over/under is 8 1/2 runs

BOTTOM LINE: Houston and Oakland will play on Tuesday.

The Astros are 26-16 on their home turf. The Houston pitching staff averages 9 strikeouts per nine innings, Zack Greinke leads them with a mark of 6.6.

The Athletics are 22-15 on the road. Oakland has a collective .233 this season, led by Matt Olson with an average of .283.

The Astros won the last meeting 8-4. Luis Garcia secured his second victory and Martin Maldonado went 2-for-4 with a double, a home run and three RBIs for Houston. Cole Irvin registered his fifth loss for Oakland.

TOP PERFORMERS: Jose Altuve leads the Astros with 18 home runs and has 48 RBIs.

Olson leads the Athletics with 38 extra base hits and is slugging .552.

LAST 10 GAMES: Astros: 5-5, .212 batting average, 4.27 ERA, outscored by seven runs

Athletics: 4-6, .201 batting average, 2.89 ERA

INJURIES: Astros: Justin Verlander: (elbow), Jose Urquidy: (arm), Joe Smith: (undisclosed), Austin Pruitt: (elbow), Enoli Paredes: (shoulder), Josh James: (hip), Kent Emanuel: (elbow), Pedro Baez: (right shoulder), Bryan Abreu: (calf), Kyle Tucker: (back), Michael Brantley: (side), Aledmys Diaz: (hand), Alex Bregman: (hamstring).

Athletics: Trevor Rosenthal: (chest), Mike Fiers: (right elbow), Mark Canha: (hip), Mitch Moreland: (undisclosed).

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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.